Words Unspoken
by FRENZDRIVE
Summary: Emily is Paige's closest friend - wouldn't love complicate things?
1. Chapter 1

"I'm leaving you," She announced to me as nonchalant as she possibly could be, "I know that this is really unexpected, and I honestly thought that I could deal with being your girlfriend through all of… well, _this_," She gestured to my forearm which was enveloped in plaster, a few memos and signatures left upon it, "You were the captain of the swim team! And now you're just… _you_," She stood up from the bench we were seated on, gazing at me with her deep brown eyes, "We had a good run," She shrugged, "Goodbye, Paige," And, with that, she left me.

I blinked twice, unsure of what just happened. A part of me was surprised that a girl that I had been steadily dating for the past year just walked out on our relationship because I had a fractured arm, and, truly, a part of me was entirely relieved. I really did like Shana, she was nice… sometimes, beautiful, and smart, too, but she loved attention, and being with me, enabled all the attention that she could ask for. But, since I had to essentially drop out of the swim team because of an arm fracture, all that attention went away – I wasn't captain of anything anymore. I was just Paige McCullers, no status embedded.

A sigh slipped past my lips as I reached for my phone in my pocket – pulling it out and dialing my best friend, who answered after a few rings, "Hey," I greeted, with a small smile, "Are you busy right now?"

I heard a yawn, "I was _this _close from falling asleep actually," She said, tiredness evident, "But if you're calling instead of texting, I can only assume that something's up,"

"Well," I started, "Shana dumped me,"

"Shana… Shana…" She repeated faintly, as if she was trying to figure out who it was, "Oh, you mean your girlfriend Shana?"

I laughed quietly, "How many other Shana's do you know of, Em? But, yes, my _ex_-girlfriend Shana,"

"I kind of figured that this was going to happen, she was really shallow, Paige," Emily said over the phone and I rolled my eyes – she had told me this countless times.

"Yeah, I know, but, uh, anyways, I was calling to see if I could stop by," I baited, wondering if she would approve or not.

"Paige, you already know that you're welcomed here anytime," Emily replied simply, "Well, unless my mom's on a cleaning frenzy, then I would suggest that you stay away as far as possible, unless you want infinite chores," I laughed, knowing it all to be very true.

"So, I'll be there in ten minutes, Em," And I hanged up, slipping my phone back into my pocket, and walking in the direction of Emily's house. So, Emily was the closest friend I have ever acquired – there truly wasn't anyone else like Emily Fields. She was a great listener and gave honest remarks, she was dependable, and ever-so caring, and, at the lowest part of my life, she was the only one who could lift my spirits. I really couldn't ask for a better friend in the world.

As I made my way down the familiar streets, I didn't feel like I just got broken up with, instead I had a little pep to my step, and I was feeling just fine. In a matter of minutes, I was at Emily's door, knocking gently, and, almost immediately, the door opened, revealing Emily clad in a baggy t-shirt and sweatpants, hair tied into a messy bun, and dark-rimmed glasses perched on the bridge of her nose.

"Why, don't you look all fancy," I joked, earning a light punch from Emily, "I'm kidding! You look wonderful," Which was actually, very, very true, but I got another punch instead, "What?!"

"Flatter me some other time, hotshot," She stepped to the side, gesturing for me to enter her house, "Do you want something to eat?" She asked me, closing the door behind me after I stepped in. I turned to her, grinning, and she rolled her eyes, "Food, you perv,"

I grinned wider, "I _was _thinking about food," I jokingly poked her, "Who's the perv now?" Emily scoffed, walking into the kitchen as I followed, accidentally glancing at her backside. I averted my eyes.

_Apparently I am._

"So, do you want food or not, Paige?"

I shook my head, "No, I'm alright," I cleared my throat, and leaned against the granite of the kitchen countertop, "What have you been doing today?" I asked casually, making small talk.

Emily shrugged as she opened her refrigerator, "Nothing much, I finished most of my homework," She bent, fishing through the fridge. I looked down at my hands, knowing that I'd be staring if I weren't distracted.

"Yeah? Are those AP classes kicking your ass yet?"

"Nope," Emily replied, popping the 'p' of the word, shutting the fridge. I looked up to see her removing the top to a small container of yogurt, "So, about Shana? Did she at least tell you why she dumped you?"

_Hardly beating around the bush, are you, Em?_

"Uh, yeah, she was honest – I'm sure you remember how I got this?" I raised my arm that was in the cast, and Emily nodded. Of course she did, she was there when it happened after all, "And you know how I can't swim because of it?" Another nod, "She didn't like that," I shrugged, "Because she's not dating the swim captain,"

"That's a stupid excuse," Emily said, grabbing a spoon and sticking it into the yogurt, "I never really did like her, she always seemed annoying,"

I shrugged again, "I don't know, I'm actually kind of relieved," I watched Emily take a spoonful of her yogurt, "So, I guess it's okay. But, I kind of wished that she had a _valid _reason to break up with me, you know?"

Another spoonful, "'Paige, you're terrible in bed, I need to break up with you immediately'?"

"_Ouch_." I smirked, "I'm pretty sure that wouldn't be a _real _valid reason, though,"

"I can't tell if you're being arrogant or sarcastic," She made full on eye contact with me, "Or both,"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" I asked, with a hint of suggestion, and Emily blushed, "Yeah, though, that would be a more valid excuse than me having a broken arm, and it's not even my dominant arm!"

"Oh my god, Paige," Emily laughed, "You're ridiculous,"

"But you love me,"

"More or less, more or less," She had the last bit of her yogurt before disposing of the empty container and putting the spoon in the sink, "Anyways, Shana's a real idiot, you're a keeper,"

"That's just what I needed to hear," I smiled, like I said, literally the only one who could lift my spirits.

Emily walked up to me, a small smile on her face, "You're not going all soft on me, are you?" She laughed, as she opened her arms, and embraced me in a hug. Without much thought, and mostly instinct, I tucked my head into the crook of her neck, and, as usual, she smelled of lavender. It was intoxicating scent, and I resisted the urge to inhale.

"You're the only one who'd make me soft," I said quietly, quickly pulling away, "So, are you going to entertain your guest or what?"

* * *

><p>"Emily, no. Please don't," I pleaded, "I can't watch this movie again, Emily, you have literally made me watch Rudy a million times,"<p>

Looking directly at me, Emily frowned, "Rudy is inspiring,"

"Maybe the first two or three times, but after _numerous _times, it really _suuuucks_," I stressed, all too much enjoying this moment.

She gasped, feigning insult, "Take that back, Paige,"

I rolled my eyes, "Seriously, Em? No," I sat up in her bed, "You can't torture me like that… I'm… uh, heartbroken,"

"Heartbroken, my ass," She murmured underneath her breath, "So, what do you want to watch?" I opened my mouth to give a recommendation, Emily quickly cut in, "And _no _to any horror movies,"

I sat back; of course she would know what kind of movie I'd pick. Not because I particularly enjoyed horror movies, but I did most certainly enjoy having Emily cling to me during the scary portions.

"Fine," I relented, "If you so badly want to watch Rudy, start it up,"

She stared at me, and I admired her gaze, she really was beautiful, "Who are you and what have you done with Paige McCullers? Because I know that the Paige I know, would never _willingly _let me start Rudy without a fight,"

"Maybe this is all part of my plan,"

She narrowed her eyes, not entirely trusting, and I smiled, "What plan?" She asked

"Well, I don't know, just play Rudy again, Emily," I mused, watching her hesitate

"Paige,"

"Yes, Emily?"

"You don't have a plan at all, do you?"

We made eye contact, and my stomach fluttered, "Wouldn't you like to know," She bit her lip. _Paige, you just got dumped. And Emily's your friend. Best friend, actually, and ruining three years of friendship because you like her isn't worth it. _I advert my eyes, "Anyways, go ahead, and start up Rudy, _again_."

"I don't know what trick you have up your sleeve, but I'm not falling for it,"

"Oh that's too bad, I really wanted to watch it," My tone was sarcastic, and Emily nudged me, "What?"

A brief moment of silence passed, "I'm really glad that I've met you," Emily said softly, "You're honestly the closest person to me… like closer than my other friends,"

"I feel the same way," We were having a moment, but it was cut short by a buzz of my phone. I quickly took it out of my pocket, and answered it, "Hello?" I shot Emily an apologetic look.

_"Paige, where are you? It's getting late,"_

It was my dad, "Oh, I didn't realize that… I've just been at Emily's"

_"Oh, well, please have her drive you back, I don't want you walking around in the dark," _

"Alright, dad,"

_"I'll see you when you get home," _He ended the call, and I looked to Emily who was watching me

"My dad wants you to drive me home… uh, when I'm ready to go home, that is,"

"Maybe your dad should've given you a curfew because I know that you'd never go home if it was completely left up to you,"

_You have no idea how true that is._

"Well, free food of course. Ah, but I should be heading home anyways, I do have some homework to do… and the whole I-have-a-broken-arm excuse isn't working as much anymore,"

"I'm sure that's just completely devastating,"

"You have no idea,"

"I guess I should get you home then," A huge part of me screamed to stay longer, "But I'll see you tomorrow in school anyways," _But that's not soon enough. _"Quit pouting, Paige,"

"I'm not pouting," I jutted out my bottom lip, pouting

Reaching over, not caring for personal space, she grasped my cheeks between her hands, forcing me to face her. _She has really pretty eyes, _"Paige," I hummed in response, "You'll see me in school tomorrow,"

"Okay," I nodded, "Alright, so let's get you home then," I nodded once more, blinking slowly as Emily let go of my face.

"Yeah," I shook my head, swaying thoughts around in my mind, "Yeah," I repeated, quieter.

_You are in a hole, McCullers, a deep one._

* * *

><p><strong>I don't know if I should continue this or not. I'm kind of on the fence about it. Feedback is appreciated.<strong>


	2. Chapter 2

"Em!" I whipped my head around as I continued walking to my class, "Can you hold up for a minute? Jeez!" I slowed my pace and Hanna ran up to me, "Where were you during lunch? I couldn't find you,"

She walked side-by-side with me, "I was in the library," I hugged my textbooks closer to my chest, "With Paige,"

I had braced myself for it; most of my friends were subtle – they generally kept their opinions to themselves unless it was detrimental, but not Hanna. "_Paige_? _Again_? Don't you have like _half _of your classes with her _and _go to her house like everyday?" She questioned. Hanna was right, for the most part, I did spend a _lot _of time with Paige, but she was my best friend, and we were so close to each other.

"I don't go to her house _everyday_" I countered as we stopped before my next class, Chemistry – with Paige. "And I don't have any control over… the classes that we share – we're on the same academic level," _For the most part_, I mentally add, remembering that she's not in any of my AP classes.

"You spend so much time with her," Hanna whined, "When are we going to have our girl's night again?" I ended up shrugging, which was a terrible habit that I had picked up from Paige, "Well, Aria wanted to know something – if you made up your mind about coming to Noel Kahn's party with us on Friday,"

"I…" _No, I actually forgot that Aria asked, _"I'm still thinking about it, I mean, I don't have anything to wear, and I might have homework,"

Hanna rolled her eyes, "Homework, shomework, it's just one night, Em," Her eyes had a small twinkle to it, "I bet you would go if _Paige _was going," I blushed, in a sense, confirming her answer, "Why don't you just date her already,"

"It's not even like that, Han, we're just friends,"

Hanna wasn't convinced though, "Right, just 'friends'"

The school bell rang, indicating that everyone should be at their classroom at the time, "Fine, I'll go," I said quickly, earning a bright smile from Hanna.

"Good! I'll tell Aria then," Hanna said just as quickly, "I gotta go," She left speedily, and I turned to walk in the class, taking my usual spot beside Paige at our table.

"Hey," Paige greeted, resting her casted arm on the table, "I thought you were going to be wild and skip class," I chuckled

"Like I would skip Chemistry, it's my favorite subject," _And of course I have my favorite subject with my favorite person_, "But Hanna asked if I was going to Noel's party,"

Paige raised a brow, "Noel? Noel Kahn?" I nodded, "Are you going to go?" I could hear the concern in her voice, but I gave another nod anyways, "And you're going to be with your friends?" I nodded once more, "Okay,"

"Should I not go?"

She shook her head, "I just want to make sure that you'll be okay, if you do go… Kahn's parties are pretty big…" I slowly nodded, I would only imagine that his parties were huge – Noel was amongst those who _everyone _knew. But I had never been to a party, much less a big party.

"I'll be fine," I said, "But… you can come with, if you want to," _And I really want you to come along. _

"I don't know," Paige answered vaguely, "I kind of…" She waved her hand, and I wondered what she was about to say, "Do you really want me to go?"

Trying not to seem too eager, "Yeah," I answered coolly

"Alright, then. I'll go, only because you invited me," She gave a small smile, and I repressed a sigh, "I just wish that I didn't have this stupid cast on," Automatically, my eyes fell down to the cast on her arm, before looking back up, making eye contact.

"I'm still sorry…" I said quietly, "About your arm,"

Paige shrugged, "I told you that it's fine, Em. Plus, it actually feels kind of good not being expected to swim all the time,"

"Still…"

"Don't worry about it,"

Just as I was going to respond, our chemistry teacher, Mr. Williams, stood before the class, "Alright everyone, today we are going over the different bonds of chemistry," I bit the inside of my cheek, feeling as though our conversation was unfinished. Paige turned her attention to our teacher, and I found myself staring at her cast again.

_Still…_

* * *

><p><em>"Are you sure that this is safe?" I asked as I took the last step up the ladder, pulling myself onto the rooftop. Paige was grinning in the dark, "And that this isn't trespassing, because you know my dad will kill me if I ever got arrested, and then he <em>will _kill you after he's done with me,"_

_Paige rolled her eyes, "Don't be so dramatic, this is perfectly safe,"_

_"And legal?" I pressed, entirely serious, but Paige didn't answer, "Paige?"_

_"And… maybe just a tad illegal," I instantly turned around, about to climb down the ladder. Paige _would _do something like this, and to tag me along? No way. "Hey, wait!" She pulled on my arm, "I just wanted to show you something," She read my face, "And you won't get in trouble, I promise, Em,"_

_"I swear to God, Paige, if we get arrested, I will never speak to you again," This was a lie, and she knew as well as I did, that it was, "What are you going to show me?"_

_"So, you know how you like all the science junk?" I huffed loudly at Paige's choice of words, "Oops, I called it 'junk' again, didn't I?" She smirked, "So, I learned that you can't really see things in the sky beca—"_

_"Because of the light from the city," I interrupted, finishing her sentence, as she nodded, already figuring that I would know this piece of information_

_"Exactly," She pulled my arm gently, bringing me further onto the flat rooftop and away from the ladder as if I were going to suddenly leave._

_Then it dawned on me. Here we were fifteen miles out from the city, on a rooftop, in the middle of the night, "Paige,"_

_"I just thought that since I care about you a lot, that I'd actually do something that you would appreciate," I was surprised that I didn't catch on quicker; we were heading down the road, darkness growing darker as we left home, but I didn't think that Paige actually listen to me whenever I talked about anything science related… and actually look up information about it on her spare time – which, I knew she had very little of._

_"This is…" I couldn't find the right words, "I…" _

_"You don't have to say anything, Em. You know, sometimes, silence is better than words. So, since I brought you out here, wanna see if you can pick out any constellations or whatever?"_

_There wasn't anything that could wipe the stupid smile off of my face as I nodded, then looking upward. I really could've kissed Paige at that moment – the timing seemed impeccable. Who would've thought that she would be _this _thoughtful… for her friend?_

_She had Shana. As much as I didn't like her, she had Paige and I didn't. And this act, was purely an act of kindness – an appreciative gesture of our friendship. Though, I wished, god only knows how much, that one day Paige would be mine, she would only be my friend. My best friend._

_I cleared my throat. _

_So, there was something that could wipe my smile away after all._

_"See anything in the stars, Einstein?" Pulled me from my thoughts, and shook my head_

_"You mean Galileo," I corrected, "Einstein was a physicist," _

_"I knew that, I was just checking to see if you were still a geek,"_

_ "You're unbelievable, Paige,"_

_"I know, I'm unbelievably awesome," She corrected, that being the last of words we spoke until later._

_Two hours had passed easily, we had sat comfortably on the rooftop, wordlessly watching the stars and moon change positions in the sky as the earth rotated. Paige took her phone out, "Oh crap," She said, "It's past three," _

_"We should head back,"_

_Paige nodded, standing up, offering me a hand, which I gladly took, "Did you enjoy yourself?" _

_"I did," I said simply, "Thank you,"_

_She shrugged, "Anything for you,"_

_You can't say things like that._

_"Uh, yeah," Was the only thing I could say_

_"So, how about you head down first, and I follow?" I nodded, walking back to the ladder. I started to climb down slowly, cautious of not missing a step. A few moments after, Paige joined, heading down the ladder quicker than I was, until…_

_"OW!" I shouted, when she stepped on my fingertips, almost causing me to fall back_

_"Oh shit," She said, taking a step up instead of down, "I'm sorry,"_

_"It's fine," I muttered, flexing my fingers before I proceeded down again. Paige had stopped climbing down, I assumed to give us distance. I touched the concrete of being at ground level, "Alright, I'm down,"_

_She resumed her speed, almost making it down, until she lost footing. It was as if the speed of the world slowed down; despite the fact that she was _almost_ down, it was a hard thud when she hit the ground._

_I had ran to her, "Paige?"_

_"Jesus fucking Christ," She yelled, slowly sitting up, cradling her arm. I could see pain written all over her face. I didn't know what to do. _

_"Are you okay?"_

_Instinctively, I waited for a sarcastic remark, but I knew that it wasn't coming, instead she groaned loudly, "My arm," I could barely understand her, "I… I think I broke it," I took out my phone, ready to dial 911, but I didn't have a single bar of signal, "My dad is gonna flip a fucking chair," _

* * *

><p>"Ms. Fields," Paige nudged me, and I looked to her, but it wasn't her voice, so I turned my attention to my teacher, "Can you please tell the class what a covalent bond is?"<p>

"Uh, electrons shared by atoms," I said vaguely

"Right," Mr. Williams looked to another student, "Ms. Wu, can you tell us what a ionic bond is?"

Paige nudged me again, "You okay?" She whispered, I nodded, "Are you sure?"

"Yeah," I whispered back

"You're lucky that you're smart, Mr. Williams probably thought that he'd dethrone the genius of the class for a second,"

"Ha, ha," I said dryly

"Are you sure that you're okay, Emily, you kind of seem off,"

"Paige, I'm fine,"

"If you say so,"

* * *

><p>"Are you doing anything later today?" Paige asked as the final bell rang, "I'm just curious,"<p>

_Why? _

I shook my head, "No, not really,"

"Do you think your mom would mind if I stopped by?"

"You already know that my mom won't mind, she practically thinks of you as family,"

"I know, I know, I think I come by too much," Paige admitted, "But I was actually wondering if you…" She stopped herself, "Ah, never mind," She waved her hand. _This is the second time she's done that today, _I thought, finding it odd, "It's a stupid thought anyways,"

"What is?"

Though I could see her nervousness clear as day, she smirked, "Wouldn't you like to know, Einstein,"

"Einstein was a physicist,"

"Yeah, I know," She grinned, and I could feel tiny butterflies angrily flapping around in my stomach, "Just checking if you're still a geek,"

* * *

><p><strong>Guest asked for Emily's POV. If there are mistakes, I apologize, I wrote this rather quickly. Feedback is appreciated, and keeps me motivated.<strong>


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